Memory tags in the form of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are well known in the prior art, and the technology is well established (see for example: RFID Handbook, Klaus Finkenzeller, 1999, John Wiley & Sons). RFID tags come in many forms but all comprise an integrated circuit with information stored on it and a coil which enables it to be interrogated by a read/write device generally referred to as a reader. Until recently RFID tags have been quite large, due to the frequency they operate at (13.56 MHz) and the size of coil they thus require, and have had very small storage capacities. Such RFID tags have tended to be used in quite simple applications, such as for file tracking within offices or in place of or in addition to bar codes for product identification and supply chain management.
Much smaller RFID tags have also been developed, operating at various frequencies. For example Hitachi-Maxell have developed “coil-on-chip” technology in which the coil required for the inductive link is on the chip rather than attached to it. This results in a memory tag in the form of a chip of 2.5 mm square, which operates at 13.56 MHz. In addition Hitachi has developed a memory tag referred to as a “mu-chip” which is a chip of 0.4 mm square and operates at 2.45 GHz. These smaller memory tags can be used in a variety of different applications. Some are even available for the tagging of pets by implantation.
Although it is known to provide tags with their own power source, in many applications the tag is also powered by the radio frequency signal generated by the reader. Such a known system is shown in FIG. 1 where a reader is indicated generally at 10 and a tag at 12. The reader 10 comprises a radio frequency signal generator 13 and a resonant circuit part 11, in the present example comprising an inductor 14 and a capacitor 15 connected in parallel. The inductor 14 comprises a antenna. The resonant circuit part will have a particular resonant frequency in accordance with the capacitance and inductance of the capacitor 15 and the inductor 14, and the frequency signal generator 13 is operated to generate a signal at that resonant frequency.
The tag 12 similarly comprises a resonant circuit part generally illustrated at 16, a rectifying circuit part generally indicated at 17 and a memory 18. The resonant circuit part 16 comprises an inductor 19 which again comprises in this example a loop antenna, and a capacitor 20. The resonant circuit part 16 will thus have a resonant frequency set by the inductor 19 and capacitor 20. The resonant frequency of the resonant circuit part 16 is selected to be the same as that of the reader 10. The rectifying part comprises a forward-biased diode 21 and a capacitor 22 and thus effectively acts as a half-ware rectifier.
When the reader 10 is brought sufficiently close to the tag 12, a signal generated by the frequency generator 13 will cause the resonant circuit part 11 to generate a high frequency electromagnetic field. When the resonant circuit part 16 is moved within this field, a current will be caused to flow in the resonant circuit part 16, drawing power from the time varying magnetic field generated by the reader. The rectifying circuit part 17 will then serve to smooth the voltage across the resonant frequency part and provide a power supply storage. The rectifying circuit part 17 is sufficient to supply a sufficiently stable voltage to the memory 18 for the memory to operate.
There are many uses to which such memory tags may be put. For example in EP 1 076 316 A2 an application is described whereby a memory tag is attached to a print of a photograph and contains data about the print concerned.
For some uses the RFID tags are attached to the rear of sticky labels, which may be printed on the front with data, such as for example a bar code, or other product identifiers. Apparatus for applying RFID tags to the rear of labels is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,280,544 B1, where the front of the labels are printed and then the tags are applied to the rear. The apparatus further includes a read station down stream of the tag being applied to the rear of the label, where the operation of the tag is checked before the label is dispensed from the apparatus for use.
In such prior applications, the tag is easy to locate with a read/write device since the tag itself is physically large enough to be found, and/or is in a constant position, for example when applied to a label, and in many cases the range of the read/write head is sufficiently large, for example tens of centimetres at least. Where the tag is miniaturised and of comparatively low power however, a problem then arises in locating a read/write device sufficiently close to the tag for reading and/or writing of data to or from the tag to occur. An aim of the invention is to reduce or overcome the above problem.